Getting Chippy With Serena Williams

ByAndrew Beaton

There’s a member of Serena Williams’s entourage that has been giving the 17-time Grand Slam singles champion a hard time.

Chip, Williams’s Yorkshire Terrier, has been on hand to support her during the U.S. Open. Typically, according to her social media posts, Chip is a bright spot in Williams’s days. Last week, a post on her Facebook page showed a picture of her with Chip on one of the Open’s practice courts.

But lately, he has given Williams a “ruff” time.

“Actually, we need a little time apart,” Williams said. “He’s been annoying lately. He cries. I think he’s talking to me, and I don’t quite understand him. It’s really stressing me out a little bit.”

A representative for Williams, who beat Kaia Kanepi 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals, declined to provide any details on the dog, but one day last week he was seen being carried around the Open grounds in a bag by a Williams assistant. (Open fans are prohibited from bringing animals, except service animals, onto the premises).

Just as Williams is known for her fashion, so is Chip, whose signature accessories are ties, which can be seen at Williams’s tournaments or on her social media posts. An Instagram post in August captioned “Doing Chips laundry…” shows multiple ties in a dishwasher.

According to posts on Williams’s Twitter, Chip is one of Serena’s three dogs. The other two, Jackie and Lauralei, are girls.

Perhaps Chip is also evidence that dogs adopt the personalities of their owners. In one video posted to her Twitter, she asks Chip, in an American flag tie, twice to “behave” because she’s working. Chip continued to bark away.

“I had to send him to his auntie’s room yesterday to give me a little break. Hopefully he’ll be better,” Williams said. “His mommy needs a break.”

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